So I'm 20 and I've started looking at the salaries of jobs/careers, and this is the impression I've gotten. Like that you could spend years cramming a ton of knowledge about a very niche field, and still only get 2-3x what a run-of-the-mill job makes. Is this true? If yes then I guess this route to wealth would only make sense (due to the diminishing returns) if the topic truly spoke to you, right? Are there alternative career paths to good pay than being really good at something really specific?
Continuing to work for the same company will only provide +2% to +4% per year regardless of knowledge gained. You aren't paid for how much you know.
To get the large gains in income, you have to re-set your salary by changing jobs, at which point you get one big bump, then go back to +2% to +4% per year.
To be honest, when you continue to work for the same company, your knowledge will also only grow by +2% to +4% per year.
You'll be the go-to guy for a number of things, all of which you've done a thousand times. Doing something else will decrease the team's efficiency, cause someone else is the go-to guy with the expert knowledge on that.
And you only work within the context of your company, without getting exposed to how other companies do things.
It takes a certain soft skill to break out of one setting and hit the ground running somewhere else, which most don't have. And after you switch, you bring a valuable outside view into whatever company you enter. That's part of the reason you can demand more at a new workplace.
Staying for a long time in one place also offers comfort and familiarity, which have value for people, especially with families.
Employers need to pay more to make up for that loss in "value".
I'm one of those people that's switched skill sets and jobs multiple times. It's great for me because I love learning new things and using the new things I'm learning as it applies to the current job I'm doing. But there is a disadvantage to this in that recruiters don't know what the hell to do with you and bosses are always suspicious that you will jump ship at the drop of a hat. The ones who do take a chance and hire me have always been happy with my work though.
Same boat here. A recruiter gave me the advice that staying at a company for less than 2 or more than 7 years sticks out and makes them suspicious.
If you switched after less than 2 years, how can they rely on you sticking with them?
If you switched after more than 7 years, are you flexible enough? And what actually forced you to switch now?
Not true for everyone. My pay rises over the past 5 years were around 35% on top of my starting wage, specifically linked to how much knowledge or experience I have gained in the role.
In curious where you are in the career curve?
When I started I had similar experience where I was rapidly getting promoted and raises. Eventually that slowed down.
I'm 42 and have been working in the same industry for 20 years. This is just a good company to work for.
I think Iโm very much a generalist, but the areas in deep on Iโm much deeper than others.
But that means as companies get bigger they want more specialists and i end up less valuable as Iโm just filling in gaps.
Makes finding those good companies harder, but Iโm more valuable to small companies than hiring 3-4 people, so I can command good pay.
Well, that's great for you! Definitely not the norm though!
Or instead, form a union and demand better pay and retention incentives.